what type of water do you use?

hey im wondering what type of water treatment system everyone uses for their hydro systems i.e. reverse osmosis and what not im lookin at a 50gpd R/O system for an ebb 5 gallon bucket system. any info on better systems for a 55 gallon rez would help thanks.
 
i have well water would it still work? im goin for like an ultra pure cge grow and dont want to clog my pumps and stuff with sediment
 

reggaerican

Well-Known Member
test your tapp ppm and ph let that answer your ? as to wether you need a filter.. i use a ro system for my girls cause my tap ppm is above 500 and i dont want to substitute quality nutes with bad water.. personally even if you do have a ppm of lets say 300 or below i would still use a sediment filter to remove all big debree there is no water waist and filters are cheep..
 
cool thanks guys for the quick responses do you frown on r/o systems? and have you ever heard anything about uv light in rez to kill bacteria and crap? wer can i get my water tested at thee pool supply store or can i buy a kit, sorry about the newby questions but its my first hydro grow and puttin a bit of time and money into it and dont want to need to change anything.
 
Atleast get a RV filter theres cheaper than a R.O. system and atleast remove the main particles and drop your ppm some.
From my experience tho using a Reverse Osmosis system works the best and drops bad tap watter from like 600-700ppm to like 25-35 ppm.
Reverse Osmosis systems are like 200$ tho :(
 

doc111

Well-Known Member
test your tapp ppm and ph let that answer your ? as to wether you need a filter.. i use a ro system for my girls cause my tap ppm is above 500 and i dont want to substitute quality nutes with bad water.. personally even if you do have a ppm of lets say 300 or below i would still use a sediment filter to remove all big debree there is no water waist and filters are cheep..
This is good advice. Not all tapwater is suitable for growing. If it has a lot of dissolved solids it can cause all sorts of issues. I personally use r/o water and my plants love it!:weed:
 

reggaerican

Well-Known Member
i dont like RO systems cause they waist tons of water.. but if you recycle the waist water like i do and water your grass with it then its all good..
 
well actually rain water is the best because of the trace nutrients already in it. Secondly purified water I think is better then tap because it removes the excess chlorine, but all in all tap water is fine just remember if your using a spray bottle, to shake it up well before spraying ( to aerate the water ) and also to use the finest setting.
 

doc111

Well-Known Member
i dont like RO systems cause they waist tons of water.. but if you recycle the waist water like i do and water your grass with it then its all good..
That's true, they do waste a lot of water. If your tapwater sucks like mine does, there really aren't many options. One thing that isn't mentioned much is mixing r/o with tapwater. This way you can bring your water into the ppm range you prefer and you don't have to use as much r/o water. For a long time I used the grocery store self serve water machines. Those are reverse osmosis units and the water costs from $.25-$.40. Pretty cheap, but it's a pain in the ass lugging 5 gallon jugs to the store a couple of times a week. :cuss:
 

doc111

Well-Known Member
well actually rain water is the best because of the trace nutrients already in it. Secondly purified water I think is better then tap because it removes the excess chlorine, but all in all tap water is fine just remember if your using a spray bottle, to shake it up well before spraying ( to aerate the water ) and also to use the finest setting.
Not necessarily true about rainwater. While a lot of rainwater has an ideal pH and a small amount of Nitrates, some of it has an extremely low pH and is polluted with all kinds of nasty stuff I wouldn't want to put in my garden.:spew: Chlorine isn't a big deal because it evaporates out of water relatively quickly if left in an open container. Chloramine, on the other hand, does not evaporate and there are conflicting reports on the affect it has on beneficial microbes in soil. Most tapwater is just fine for growing. A small percentage of tapwater has an extreme pH (usually on the high end of the chart) and is very hard. Dissolved solids can interfere with nutrient uptake and lock out other nutrients. These effects are not typically seen after 1 or 2 waterings but can cause a cumulative buildup in the soil, wreaking havoc with nutrient uptake. pH is easily adjusted but dissolved solids can only be removed by reverse osmosis, distillation, or Deionization. Best of luck and happy growing. :weed:
 
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